Pichu Line/DPPt
Pichu and Pikachu can both only be found in the Trophy Garden in all three games. They are more likely to be encountered if a Pokémon with Static is leading the team. A ThunderStone is available in Sunyshore City or, only in Platinum, in the Solaceon Ruins. Further ThunderStones may be obtained in the Underground. The mascot Pokémon is near-omnipresent in main series games, and the Sinnoh games are no exception. Despite the relatively low encounter rate of Water-types in boss battles, having an Electric-type on one's team tends to prove itself a solid choice; the not-so-uncommon Gyarados, found in notable boss battles such as against Crasher Wake and Cyrus, also make this an almost forced choice unless there is another good special attacker with Electric coverage in the squadron. As an Electric-type, Raichu is somewhat average: well-rounded stats, with only Defense being glaringly low, decent offensive on both ends, decent special bulk, good Speed and a not so bad movepool to pick from; being a bit of a jack of all trades (at least by Electric standards) it is not specialised in anything, which makes it play a losing game against the likes of Electivire and Magnezone, though the upside of relatively early availability and versatility still make it an okay choice for most players. For the most anime-nostalgic ones, even the Light Ball Pikachu option is available, at the cost of sacrificing Focus Blast. Important Matchups - Platinum = * Rival (Pastoria City): Raichu's Thunderbolt destroys Staravia and Buizel, and 2HKOs Ponyta, Monferno and Prinplup; it even outdamages Roselia's Magical Leaf. Grotle can only 4HKO with Razor Leaf and gets 2-3HKOed by Focus Blast. * Gym #5 - Crasher Wake (Pastoria City, Water-type): Raichu easily disposes of Gyarados and Floatzel with Thunderbolt. If it knows Grass Knot, it can also OHKO Quagsire. * Cyrus (Celestic Town): Brick Break or Focus Blast OHKO Sneasel, Thunderbolt OHKOs Golbat (in most cases) and Murkrow (always). If using Focus Blast against Sneasel, bear in mind that its Ice Punch is a 3HKO close to a 2HKO. If Raichu cannot use Brick Break but is afraid of missing, Thunderbolt can 2HKO Sneasel, as well. * Rival (Canalave City): Thunderbolt OHKOs Staraptor and Floatzel, and 2HKOs Empoleon and Rapidash; Raichu can take a hit from both of the last two. Raichu should not fight Heracross or Infernape: Thunderbolt can only 3HKO them and they 2HKO easily with Brick Break, plus Infernape might outspeed. While less threatening, Roserade and Torterra also outdamage Raichu by far, and should be left to more appropriate counters. * Gym #6 - Byron (Canalave City, Steel-type): Magneton gets either OHKOed by Focus Blast or 2HKOed by Brick Break, and its Tri Attack only 4HKOs. Raichu is better off not fighting Steelix: Focus Blast has a low chance of OHKOing, and its Earthquake kills Raichu. A Special Attack of 97 or above is required against Bastiodon, in order for Focus Blast to OHKO; Stone Edge is a 3HKO close to a 2HKO, but Bastiodon's main threat is actually Metal Burst, which will kill Raichu if it fails to one-shot. * Saturn (Lake Valor): Raichu can OHKO or 2HKO Golbat with Thunderbolt, depending on its stats. Bronzor is averagely 2-3HKOed. Raichu should not try to fight Toxicroak, since its Revenge can nearly one-shot Raichu after taking a hit, and Raichu's Thunderbolt is not even a certain 2HKO, let alone an OHKO. * Mars (Lake Verity): Thunderbolt disposes of Golbat in one or two hits and Bronzor in two or three. Purugly may outspeed, but its Slash is only a 3HKO without critical hits, and Raichu's Thunderbolt and Brick Break both 2HKO; Focus Blast has an OHKO chance, as well. * Gym #7 - Candice (Snowpoint City, Ice-type): Raichu should come nowhere near Piloswine, which can take any one move and respond with a killer Earthquake. Sneasel falls to any Fighting coverage, and Brick Break should preferably be used, due to higher accuracy. Abomasnow, however, is 2HKOed only by the very unreliable Focus Blast; it may be possible for Raichu to pull off a 2HKO with Brick Break after its Wood Hammer recoil chips away a good portion of its health, but Raichu cannot stock on this happening, and Wood Hammer is a powerful move that can deal up to around 80% to Raichu. Raichu also has a bad matchup against Candice's ace, Froslass, which has higher Speed and can 2HKO Raichu with Blizzard, as well as benefiting from Snow Cloak under the hail. * Cyrus (Galactic HQ): Brick Break or Focus Blast the Sneasel, preferably Brick Break for accuracy reasons, then Thunderbolt the rest. Crobat is a certain 2HKO, whereas Honchkrow is a somewhat likely OHKO. Crobat's main "danger" is the annoying Supersonic, whereas Honchkrow can at worst kill with a critical Faint Attack, but the former can be worked around and the latter is rather unlikely to happen, on top of Thunderbolt not killing. * Saturn (Galactic HQ): Thunderbolt still OHKOs or 2HKOs Golbat, and 2-3HKOs Bronzor. It can now also attempt the 2HKO (not guaranteed) against Toxicroak, whose Revenge was replaced by Brick Break, which deals about as much damage as Thunderbolt, but is also slightly less likely to 2HKO. With only a little luck, Raichu can easily win. * Mars and Jupiter (Spear Pillar, tag battle with rival): The front Bronzor each have a screen move; Mars', on the left, has Light Screen, whereas Jupiter's on the right has Reflect. Neither Bronzor is all that frightening for Raichu, but Mars' own should likely be defeated first, to get rid of Light Screen as well as preventing Confuse Ray shenanigans, a move the other Bronzor does not have. After Light Screen is down, both of their Golbat can be 1-2HKOed with Thunderbolt. Since both Purugly and Skuntank can be dangerous in a double battle, Skuntank especially, Raichu should defeat Mars' Pokémon first; that way, it will hopefully find itself on the battlefield against Purugly and Jupiter's Bronzor (or Golbat), a situation Raichu can handle well, as it can 1-2HKO with Focus Blast or opt for a safe 2HKO with Thunderbolt or Brick Break, removing Mars' last standing Pokémon. If that carries through, it can then continue the battle until before Skuntank comes, at which point Raichu needs to bail, because its strongest move is only a 3HKO and Skuntank 2HKOs for certain with Poison Jab. * Cyrus (Distortion World): Since neither Fighting move OHKOs Houndoom, Raichu should shoot for 2HKOing it with Brick Break, the safest alternative; Houndoom's Flamethrower is halfway between a 2HKO and a 3HKO. Honchkrow and Gyarados get destroyed by Thunderbolt, but Gyarados has a Quick Claw and can kill Raichu with Earthquake; take this risk only if necessary. Crobat is a 2HKO, though its Cross Poison is not exceedingly powerful, resulting in a 3HKO; Confuse Ray may mean more trouble, as Crobat is likely to outspeed and keeping Raichu healed is difficult. Weavile is OHKOed by Brick Break or Focus Blast, though its Fake Out and Ice Punch combination comes close to killing Raichu, so do not fight Weavile unless Raichu's HP bar is still full. * Giratina (Distortion World): Giratina's Shadow Force destroys Raichu, whose moves deal ridiculous damage in return. Do not have Raichu fight Giratina. * Gym #8 - Volkner (Sunyshore City, Electric-type): If Raichu still has Nasty Plot from its Pichu days, now is the time to use it. A full +6 allows Raichu to OHKO Jolteon, Raichu and Luxray with Focus Blast, and also Electivire with either Focus Blast or Grass Knot. Its low accuracy is not a problem unless it misses twice in a row, as only Electivire can threaten Raichu with Giga Impact, and a healthy Raichu with average or better-than-average Defense can still survive a hit. If Raichu does not have Nasty Plot, the best possible matchup against this gym is given by teaching it Dig, which 2HKOs all but Luxray, only a 3HKO. This, however, means Raichu will need to be healed more often than it would be with Nasty Plot, and it is also unlikely it will be able to solo Volkner, as the damage of his Pokémon will pile up and prevent him from taking that Giga Impact from Electivire. * Rival (Pokémon League): Thunderbolt OHKOs Staraptor and Floatzel, and 2HKOs Empoleon as well as having a 2HKO chance against Rapidash. Snorlax, Heracross, Infernape, Roserade and Torterra all outdamage Raichu easily, and should be avoided. * Elite Four Aaron (Pokémon League, Bug-type): Thunderbolt OHKOs Yanmega and has good chances of also OHKOing Vespiquen. Scizor and Drapion can be 2HKOed; they cannot 2HKO Raichu back. Heracross can, however, and it can also take two Thunderbolts in a row, so have a better Pokémon fight it. * Elite Four Bertha (Pokémon League, Ground-type): Grass Knot can take down Golem and Rhyperior in one hit, and Whiscash in two. Whiscash can only 2HKO with Earth Power, so Raichu will be safe unless critical hits occur. Hippowdon is a 2HKO, but its Earthquake OHKOs, so Raichu should not attempt it unless it opted for Nasty Plot on the first turn, instead; in that case, Grass Knot away. Gliscor, however, also kills with Earthquake and is neutral to Grass Knot; there is no way for Raichu to avoid that, so it should steer clear from Gliscor. * Elite Four Flint (Pokémon League, Fire-type): Houndoom may be either 2HKOed with Brick Break, or the Focus Blast OHKO may be attempted. If it gets a free turn, it will most likely put up Sunny Day, which will make later matchups unfavourable for Raichu. Flareon is infeasible either way, as it 2HKOs with a combination of Overheat and Giga Impact with or without the sun; Rapidash 2HKOs with Flare Blitz and can be 2HKOed with Thunderbolt if Raichu outspeeds, but with Sunny Day up, Flare Blitz becomes a much less approachable OHKO. Infernape is also a possible 2HKO if Raichu is at full health and can outspeed but not otherwise, as its Earthquake will terminate Raichu. Magmortar is unapproachable either way, as it 2HKOs and Raichu cannot. * Elite Four Lucian (Pokémon League, Psychic-type): Putting up a Light Screen to absorb damage while Raichu spams Thunderbolt is a wise idea. Mr. Mime can do the same, and that will turn Raichu's Thunderbolt from a 2HKO into a 4HKO; winning against Espeon is harder, as well, as Thunderbolt just barely fails to 2HKO, but so does Espeon's Psychic. Alakazam is 2HKOed without any screens up, but it also has considerable chances of 2HKOing Raichu before that happens, unless Raichu has a Light Screen still up. Gallade and Bronzong respectively outdamage Thunderbolt with Drain Punch and Earthquake, and should be fought by a Pokémon other than Raichu. Only a Raichu that manages three Nasty Plot boosts in front of Mr. Mime can hope to solo Lucian's team. * Champion Cynthia (Pokémon League): Use Light Screen against Spiritomb before 3HKOing it with Thunderbolt; it will help Raichu against some of Cynthia's other Pokémon. How useful the Screen will be depends on what comes after it: Lucario is 2HKOed by Brick Break or Focus Blast regardless of screen moves, if Raichu is at 65% or more of its health and can take a Stone Edge or Aura Sphere; Roserade can be stalled out better with the Screen support, but it will take forever even in that case, and using a better counter is advised. Light Screen support comes in handy against Togekiss, which is only 2HKOed by Thunderbolt. Avoid Milotic due to Mirror Coat, unless Screen support is up and Raichu is using physical moves; even if Raichu is, Brick Break just barely damages Milotic as much as a Screened Surf, and Raichu cannot make it out victorious without being healed. Garchomp... can be just barely OHKOed if Raichu sets up three Nasty Plots and then uses Focus Blast, which is inaccurate at best. * Post-Game: More nuzlocking? Really? }} Moves When caught as Pichu, the initial moveset will be Tail Whip, Thunder Wave, Sweet Kiss and Nasty Plot; when caught as Pikachu, instead, it will usually have Thunder Wave, Quick Attack, Double Team, and either Tail Whip or Slam depending on whether it is lower or higher than level 21. Nasty Plot is the last move that Pichu learns naturally, at level 18, and arguably its only interesting one to keep in the long term. Unfortunately, training Pichu is also harder, due to its lack of directly offensive moves; it can, however, be taught Thunderbolt via TM without waiting for the level-up move, if enough money are stashed to buy the Veilstone Game Corner TM. Pikachu learns Thunderbolt at level 26, and that is a good time to evolve it into Raichu; its other level-up moves are nothing worth of mention: Feint at 29 and Agility at 34 are useless, Agility even more so since there is Thunder Wave, while Discharge at 37 is just the less powerful version of Thunderbolt. Light Screen itself can be learned at 42, but Raichu will likely not want to keep Pikachu a Pikachu for that long, as the risk of it dying will be very high and it is simply not worth it for a move that is also available via TM. The exact same considerations apply for Thunder, which comes at level 45. Raichu does not learn any moves by level, though it does get Thunderbolt via Move Reminder at level 1. TMs offer a much better pool of options to the otherwise meagre coverage that is typical of Electric-types. Charge Beam is a good alternative to Nasty Plot if Pikachu was caught instead of Pichu, and Raichu still wants to run a Special Attack-boosting set. Special coverage comes in the form of Grass Knot and Focus Blast; the former is very good, the latter may also be, but the accuracy is really unreliable. It gets better with the Wide Lens attached, but it is still a less than ideal 77%. If Raichu needs accurate Fighting coverage, it is advised to teach it Brick Break instead. It should be noted that Brick Break is also available to Light Ball Pikachu, whereas Focus Blast can only be learned by Raichu. On the physical side, Dig is also a nice coverage option and offers Raichu the upper hand over other Electric-types. Platinum tutors do not have much to add to the options of this line, though Raichu may benefit from learning Magnet Rise in a hypothetical Electric monolocke. Recommended moveset: Light Screen, Thunderbolt, Brick Break / Focus Blast, Grass Knot Recommended Teammates Recommended Teammates * Grass-types: Pure Electric-types are the ones that benefit the most from Grass-type teammates. Grass-types are unusually uncommon in Sinnoh, but the few that are available typically provide valuable assets, particularly the ones that were added in Platinum. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Torterra, Carnivine, Abomasnow, Leafeon (Platinum only), Tangrowth (Platinum only), Tropius (Platinum only) * Water- or Flying-types: Grass-types are better than anything else at helping Raichu cover for its Ground weakness, but they might not be available, for whatever reason. In this case, the choice falls back to Water- or Flying-types, depending on team needs; Water is more suitable for offensive play, while Flying provides a more defensive answer. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Staraptor, Gyarados, Crobat, Golduck, Gastrodon, Whiscash, Azumarill, Milotic, Gliscor (Platinum only), Vaporeon (Platinum only), Altaria (Platinum only), Togekiss (Platinum only) * Physical tanks: Raichu has passable special bulk, but it is also frail on the physical side. Several of the strong physical sweepers of Sinnoh can put it in danger, and only a good physical wall can cover for this. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Torterra, Whiscash, Bronzong (Levitate), Garchomp, Snorlax, Hippowdon, Azumarill, Gliscor (Platinum only), Lickilicky (Platinum only), Umbreon (Platinum only), Leafeon (Platinum only), Tangrowth (Platinum only), Mamoswine (Platinum only) Other Pichu's stats Pikachu's stats Raichu's stats * What Nature do I want? Mild is the best option, as it does not sacrifice either offensive stat, only Raichu's not really usable Defense. Lonely also works well for Brick Break carriers. Speed-lowering natures make Raichu sad, as its Speed is good, but becomes only better-than-average if nerfed. Neutral natures will also work. * At what point in the game should I be evolved? Right away, unless the plan is to use a Light Ball Pikachu instead; in that case, get the Light Ball as fast as one would the ThunderStone. Dig up the latter from the Underground unless Platinum is being played, which provides early ThunderStone access, and grind Pichu's friendship levels before anything else if it was caught in its baby form. There is no point keeping Pikachu unevolved for any longer than level 26, since Thunderbolt is its best level-up move. For players who are in a hurry to evolve, Thunderbolt can even be simply taught by TM once Veilstone is reached, or by Move Reminder after Raichu completes its evolution. * How good is the Pichu line in a Nuzlocke? Like many other Electric-types, it is a good Pokémon and has the upside of getting a better balanced offensive and a slightly wider movepool than most of its colleagues. The downside is that it is not particularly specialised at anything but spamming Thunderbolt, though that alone is a good job for the line. Quite reliable overall, especially in Diamond and Pearl, where there are less Electric-type options available and Raichu does not have to compete with the likes of Jolteon for a spot on the team. * Weaknesses: Ground * Resistances: Flying, Steel, Electric * Immunities: None * Neutralities: Normal, Fighting, Poison, Rock, Bug, Ghost, Fire, Water, Grass, Psychic, Ice, Dragon, Dark Category:Diamond/Pearl/Platinum